Ring Cycle
by Arpad Hrunta
Summary: Josh, Donna, an engagement ring and its transoceanic two-year journey. One-shot.


_[Author's note: Despite the title, this has nothing to do with the Wagnerian operas, other than some segment titles. This one came out of my West Wing Drabble 53, and Chai4anne's request to see a longer, happier version of it. Part 3 of this is basically the reverse of that Drabble.]_

* * *

 **1\. Das Pfalzgold**

They kicked Josh out of Donna's room for a few hours shortly after he got to see her. The only things he had brought with him to Germany were his wallet, his cell phone, and his laptop, so he took a taxi into Landstuhl to get some toiletries and a spare set of clothes.

The German he had picked up from his grandfather held up surprisingly well, after all these years, and where there were gaps in it, the fact that there was a large American military hospital in town meant he could get along in English.

He called Mrs. Moss ("Amelia, dear, call me Amelia") to update her – she was just about to catch her flight to JFK from Madison. After her relief that Donna was alive and talking, they called for passengers to board, and just before she said goodbye, Amelia Moss said, "I know it means the world to Donna that you're there Josh. The world."

He was about to call a cab when he saw a jewelry store and went in. The gold ring with the large solitaire diamond was perfect. He was getting robbed on the price, he knew, but it would be worth so much more than it cost him. He wasn't going to give it to her there in the hospital – he'd wait until she got back to D.C. – but it was important that he had it.

He was holding it in his pocket in her room, talking to C.J., when a dark-haired man carrying a huge bouquet of flowers came in to Donna's room.

* * *

 **2\. Hiding the Treasure**

She was so _angry_.

He had planned to give her the ring when they came back to D.C. That was when he thought they would be coming back together, before _Colin_ , and before she kicked Josh out while letting _him_ stay.

Even then, on the flight back, he planned on asking her. Maybe not right at the airport, but after a few weeks, when they were working on a project, late at night, in his office, in one of those moments he cherished, when it was just the two of them, together.

But she was so _angry_ , at the world, and especially at him. Nothing he did seemed to be the right thing. Nothing he did made her smile.

Josh wasn't the best judge of women's feelings, he knew this, but even he could tell this was not the right time. Not by a long shot. So he put the ring in its box, put the box in the bag it came in, and stuck it in a drawer at home.

She just needed time to heal, he thought. He'd give her space, and when the time was right, soon, he'd ask her.

* * *

 **3\. Götterdämmerung**

Damn it all.

He stood by the river, the ring in his hand.

This was never the plan.

When he bought it, he thought she's be wearing it by now. Hell, he thought they'd be _married_ by now, really. He never thought she'd have left him. He never thought he'd have to tell her he couldn't hire her. He never thought she'd be leaving his office, trying to hold back tears.

He never thought he'd _have_ to tell her he missed her everyday.

If she hadn't hated him before ( _I meant Will_ ), she certainly must now.

She was gone from his life, and this ring, this stupid _bauble_ , was always mocking him, letting him know how his dreams had crumbled to dust and blown away.

Time to get rid of it. He pulled him arm back to throw it into the Potomac...

And heard gentle laughter. He looked to his right, down along the shoreline path, and there was a couple, the man about a decade older than him, the woman only a few years older than Josh, walking arm in arm and laughing at a private joke.

They looked so _happy_ , and damn it, that should be him and her in a few years.

He put his arm down, opened his hand and looked at it. It really was a beautiful ring.

When he got back to his office, he put the ring back in the box, in the bag, and tossed it in the same drawer with the damned folder of her quotes, and put a pile of papers on top of them, blocking them out from his sight.

* * *

 **4\. Finding the Treasure**

It was exasperating.

Five days on the campaign, nine months since she stopped working for him, and here she was, rummaging through his desk, trying to find the damn polling numbers for Virginia and the Carolinas.

She honestly thought she was beyond this.

If he would only have listened to Lou, he could have given these to Lou before he went out with Leo to meet with the White House about the fallout from Toby's shuttle leak, and Donna wouldn't have to be here acting like it was five years ago. If he wasn't such a continuing ass, she'd be able to call him up, find out where they were, and get them. But she couldn't call him, not now, not the way they were after that stupid meeting when Lou shoved him into the bedroom she was sitting in – and wasn't that symbolic.

She didn't know why she came back.

Well, that was a lie. She knew. She wanted to work on the campaign. She wanted to work with _him_ , because no matter what, she cared for the jerk, _more_ than cared for him, despite how clear of a waste of time it was.

 _References?_ indeed.

She couldn't wait until November, when this was done, and she could leave for good... not that it worked last time.

Where were those numbers?

Then she saw it. The folder of her quotes. Leave it to him to keep them. He probably used it to harden his heart... if it even needed hardening. She couldn't help but open it, and was surprised at how many quotes of hers from the primaries there were. Not just the damning ones he read, but slams against Hoynes and Vinick, that he had circled and underlined. There were also other quotes of hers, ones she'd made during more optimistic and visionary moments, such as they were, during the Russell campaign. Some of those were annotated in his angular handwriting.

 _Huh_.

She kept looking. Under the folder was a black plastic bag. She couldn't help but open it up.

The box was beautiful. The ring... the ring was exactly what she would want to be given, if... It was magnificent. It may have even fit her, if she were to try it on.

Why did he have an engagement ring?

She'd kept track of him these nine months, and she hadn't heard any rumours he was seeing anyone. Amy had been around the campaigns in New Hampshire, but Donna knew she'd spend the last six months out in Los Angeles working with the California branch of NARAL. Was there someone new? Someone on the campaign? It couldn't be someone out there in the real world – he'd been working nonstop at this since New Year's. She could tell he wasn't getting any rest – she'd say he looked terrible if he didn't look so frustratingly wonderful, the ass – and he certainly wasn't doing anything outside the campaign.

She closed the box, and put it back in the bag.

Then she caught the name on it, which included the words " _Juwelier – Landstuhl_ ".

She put it back, a dawning sense of horror growing within her. There was no point wondering _why_ Josh had a ring from then and there. It was obvious. The only questions to be asked were why he hadn't given it to her – and this was obvious, Colin and then their growing estrangement – and why he kept it for more than a year.

What had they done to themselves? How had they gotten so far away from where they were?

And why did he still have it?

She put everything back as she had found it, closed the drawer delicately, and fled the room.

The polling numbers could wait.

* * *

 **5\. Gaining the Treasure**

"...will you marry me?"

He was down on one knee, hold the blank ring box. Donna's hand was over her mouth, tears were in her eyes, but she was nodding vigorously.

She held out her left hand, and let him slip it on her finger. It fit perfectly, of course. She reached down, pulled him up, and kissed him – kissed him like they did the first time, six months ago, like her life depended on it.

"Oh, Josh."

"I was going to wait, you know. I've had this in my pocket for weeks. I had planned on taking you out to Alessandro's, hiding in the tiramisu..."

"That would be nice..."

"...yeah. But seeing you celebrating, how happy you are, celebrating this victory... I had to ask you now."

He'd dropped by the East Wing after the President signed into law the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2007, the first bill the First Lady had put her weight behind. The penalties imposed on non-complying nations made it tough to push the bill through Congress, especially the Republican-controlled Senate, but after some horse trading and some appearances and lobbying by Helen Santos, it passed with five votes to spare. An impromptu party had broken out in the East Wing, and when Josh dropped by, seeing the look on Donna's face... he just had to pull her into her office and propose right there.

She looked at her ring-adorned hand. It was the ring from Josh's desk last year. From Germany. "It's beautiful," she said.

"When I saw it, I knew. I knew it was the ring I was going to propose to you with. It just..."

"I love you so much," she interrupted.

They stayed in the East Wing for another hour. Donna had asked if he wanted to leave, but he said, "This is your moment. Savour it with your team. We'll be alone soon enough."

She whispered in his ear. "I saw this in your desk last year. I can't believe you kept it all this time."

"You knew?"

"I figured it out when I saw the bag."

"I couldn't get rid of it, Donna. I almost did... but then I saw this couple, and they just... reminded me of us, you know? When things were good. And I couldn't. And then a few months later, you were back, and things were getting better. Then at Ellie's wedding..."

"I asked you to entertain me, you remember. But you were too focused on that map," she said, smiling and lightly slapping his arm.

"That was a bad time. But you being there made it more bearable. That was the first wedding we were at together. I just didn't want it to be the last."

She kissed him. "Let's go home now."


End file.
